美国国家公共电台 NPR--Senate panel presses acting head of FAA on safety lapses, computer system failure

Senate panel presses acting¹ head of FAA on safety lapses², computer system failure

Transcript³

The agency struggles with aging technology and no permanent leader. Billy Nolen was asked about safety lapses and a computer system failure. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Feb. 15, 2023.)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Lawmakers in Congress question the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration about recent safety lapses, including near-misses on runways and the failure of a computer system that grounded flights nationwide. Is that bad? NPR's David Schaper reports.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE⁴: Alarm bells are ringing in Congress over a couple of near-collisions between airplanes in recent weeks that put hundreds of lives at risk. At New York's JFK Airport, an American Airlines passenger jet mistakenly crossed over an active runway into the path of a Delta⁵ plane that was beginning to take off. Air traffic control called for the Delta pilot to abort⁶, and he did so safely. In Austin, Texas, one recent foggy morning, a FedEx cargo⁷ plane coming in to land came within 100 feet of crashing into a Southwest passenger jet that was taking off. They'd both been cleared by an air traffic controller to use the same runway.

At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Texas Republican Senator Ted⁸ Cruz played a video dramatization of that near-collision with actual recordings⁹ of pilot communications with air traffic control.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Southwest 708, confirm on a roll.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Rolling now.

SCHAPER: The Southwest pilot confirms it is beginning to take off. When the FedEx pilot sees it, it calls for it to stop.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Southwest, abort.

SCHAPER: But it cannot.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: FedEx is on the go.

SCHAPER: The FedEx pilot pulls up and averts¹¹ disaster.

Cruz then asked acting FAA administrator¹² Billy Nolen how such a close call could happen. Nolen says it's still not clear what went wrong, as investigations¹³ are still underway.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BILLY NOLEN: It is not what we would expect to have happen. But when we think about the controls, how we train both our controllers and our pilots, the system works, as it's designed, to avert¹⁰ what you say could have been a horrific outcome.

SCHAPER: The other issue flummoxing senators is the January 11 failure of the NOTAM system, which notifies pilots of potential hazards. That computer breakdown¹⁴ led the FAA to ground all departures nationwide for nearly two hours that morning, forcing airlines to cancel 1,300 flights and delay 11,000 more. Washington Democrat¹⁵ Maria Cantwell, the committee's chair, wondered how both the system and its backup could go down.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARIA CANTWELL: To be sure, the FAA must have redundancies and not a single point where a failure can happen in a key system like we just saw.

SCHAPER: Acting Administrator Nolen says the agency has since implemented¹⁶ fixes and changed its procedures to prevent a repeat of such an outage. But Senator Ted Cruz pressed him on that.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TED CRUZ: Will the fixes remove the risk of a similar single point of failure from knocking the system out? Is there redundancy being built into it, or can a single screwup ground air traffic nationwide?

SCHAPER: Nolen responded that there are redundancies and safeguards now in place, but...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NOLEN: Could I sit here today and tell you there will never be another issue on the NOTAM system? No, sir, I cannot. What I can say is that we are making every effort to modernize¹⁷ and look at our procedures.

SCHAPER: Nolen noted¹⁸ that over the last decade-plus, air travel in the U.S. has never been safer.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NOLEN: But we do not take that for granted. Recent events remind us that we cannot and must not become complacent¹⁹ and must continually invest in our aviation system.

SCHAPER: To that end, Nolen is creating a safety review team of outside experts to examine the FAA systems, structure, culture, processes and integration²⁰ of safety efforts while the agency continues its massive effort to overhaul²¹ and upgrade outdated²² technology.

David Schaper, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

6 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

11 averts   

防止，避免( avert的第三人称单数 )； 转移

参考例句：

• Cautious speech averts eavesdropping. Cautious behavior arrests gossip. 若欲杜人之口，莫若自己谨言；若欲塞人之耳，莫若自己慎行。
• A gift in secret averts anger; and a concealed bribe in the bosom, strong wrath. 暗中送的礼物，挽回怒气；怀中搋的贿赂，止息暴怒。

12 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

15 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

16 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

17 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

19 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

20 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

21 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

22 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。